NOVEMBER 20238TOP STORIESINDIAN MANUFACTURING SECTOR GROWTH EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN 2023-24TESLA SEEKING TO INCREASE COMPONENT IMPORTS FROM INDIADespite the recession in developed countries, Indian manufacturing accelerated in the second quarter of 2023-24 and is expected to continue in the following quarters of the fiscal year 2023-24, according to the latest quarterly poll from industry group FICCI.The industry body's latest quarterly survey assessed the performance and sentiments of manufacturers for the July-September 2023-24 quarter for ten major sectors -- automotive and auto components, capital goods and construction equipment, cement, chemicals fertilizers and pharmaceuticals, electronics and white goods, machine tools, metal and metal products, textiles, apparels and technical textiles, paper, and miscellaneous, as per ANI.It requested answers from around 380 industrial firms, both large and small and medium-sized, with a total annual revenue of more than Rs 4.88 lakh crores. In the Indian manufacturing sector, average capacity utilization is now about 74 percent, slightly higher than the 73 percent reported in the preceding quarters.The future investment outlook has also improved over the previous quarter, with more than 57 percent of respondents reporting intentions for investments and expansions in the next six months. This is also an improvement over the prior survey. In terms of main restrictions, demand is a limiting factor in realizing the actual potential of India's manufacturing industry, with more than 40 percent of respondents seeing it as a serious barrier. The US EV maker Tesla Inc. is looking to increase the number of components it imports from India, according to Indian trade minister Piyush Goyal's announcement on social media platform X on Nov 14. The electric car maker plans to double its imports from India."It's great to see the increasing significance of Indian auto component suppliers in Tesla's EV supply chain. A proud moment indeed!" says GoyalGoyal added that he was unable to meet Tesla chief Elon Musk during his visit to the plant, however. In September, he stated that Tesla's goal was to acquire components totaling between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion from India this year after purchasing $1 billion worth of components last year.The U.S. visit by the minister, as per a recent report from Reuters, the agenda was to have discussions with Musk regarding Tesla's intention to establish a factory in India, produce a $24,000 car there, increase component sourcing, and create a nationwide charging infrastructure.
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